Archive for the 'Infrastructure' Category
Telco Won’t Install Fiber Network, Sues to Prevent City from Doing So
July 24th, 2008Individuals and local government working together to improve a situation that the “free market” has no interest in addressing? Unthinkable. It can’t be allowed. Send lawyers, guns and money. Via: Ars: The small town of Monticello, Minnesota seems an unlikely spot for a battle over city-owned fiber-to-the-home. The town, which is a distant commute to […]
Exposing Bush’s Historic Abuse of Power
July 23rd, 2008Please see my heavily referenced post on MAIN CORE for more “current history” on this matter. The full text of this Salon piece follows. Via: Salon: Exposing Bush’s historic abuse of power Salon has uncovered new evidence of post-9/11 spying on Americans. Obtained documents point to a potential investigation of the White House that could […]
UK: Government Asks Stores to Stockpile Food in Case of Infrastructure Breakdown
July 7th, 2008Via: Times: Ministers are in talks with supermarkets about emergency food reserves in case fuel protests lead to shortages at shops. The government wants to ensure retailers and suppliers can continue to sell basics such as meat, bread and milk if hauliers bring the country to a halt. They have asked supermarkets to make contingency […]
Freight Traffic on Upper Mississippi Halted
June 22nd, 2008Monitoring… Via: AP: The flooding in the Midwest has brought freight traffic on the upper Mississippi to a standstill, stranding more than 100 barges loaded with grain, cement, scrap metal, fertilizer and other products while shippers wait for the water to drop on the Big Muddy. “We’re basically experiencing total shutdown,” said Larry Daily, president […]
Giant Oil Companies to Return to Iraq Under No Bid Contracts
June 19th, 2008Imagine my complete and total shock. Via: IHT: Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power. Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners in […]
“New Zealand Will Simply ‘Get Killed'” Unless Crappy Broadband Situation Improves
June 4th, 2008Our Telecom post goes underwater during strong rain storms. A few storms ago, the cover was off that post, washed away by the raging river that overflowed its banks. Of course, all we had on the line was crackling, popping static. I looked at the post and all the copper was soaked, muddy, with bits […]
Massive Pipeline Explosion in Nigeria
May 18th, 2008Via: AFP: Nigerian firefighters battled Friday to put out flames pouring from a burst oil pipeline a day after a huge explosion that Red Cross officials said killed 100 people. An excavator accidentally pierced the pipeline, creating a lake of petrol that ignited into a huge fireball which engulfed a local school, cars and shoppers […]
Old Gas Pumps Can’t Handle Ever-Rising Prices
May 13th, 2008Via: AP: REARDAN, Wash. (AP) — Mom-and-pop service stations are running into a problem as gasoline marches toward $4 a gallon: Thousands of old-fashioned pumps can’t register more than $3.99 on their spinning mechanical dials. The pumps, throwbacks to a bygone era on the American road, are difficult and expensive to upgrade, and replacing them […]
NSA vs. Military Academies
May 12th, 2008Via: Wired: Even with a solid network design and passable software choices, there was an element of intuitiveness required to defend against the NSA, especially once it became clear the agency was using minor, and perhaps somewhat obvious, attacks to screen for sneakier, more serious ones. “One of the challenges was when they see a […]
Computer Security Community Warns High Street Chains
April 26th, 2008Via: Times Online: High street chains will be the next victims of cyber terrorism, some of the world’s elite hackers have warned. They claim it is only a “matter of time” before the likes of Tesco and Marks & Spencer are targeted. Criminals could use the kind of tactics which crippled Estonia’s government and some […]
